Years ago before I went to Morocco Ozcan YurdalanI've read the book Journey through Morocco. This was not a travel book, it was about life, emotions, smells, lives… Mongolia Özcan Yurdalan's is one of the first books to be read when his dreams begin to take shape. Sea of Horses – Journey to Mongolia it was a book.
There are several reasons why Mongolia attracted me. As soon as the bird flies, the caravan is the first to live freely in the vast steppes, and the vast Gobi desert is another. The part that arouses my curiosity is that it is the land we came from hundreds of years ago… Strangely, I feel that I have a connection with that land. Shamans, Dukhas who speak like our Turkish, Orkhon Inscriptions are calling me louder every day…
sea of horses
If we go back to the book, Özcan Yurdalan tells a life section, not a guide book as in Journey in Morocco. The book begins with the story of the Yellow Bus going from Istanbul to Mongolia by road, which is very gripping. You are eagerly waiting for what will happen to the heroes on the next page.
We leave the story of the Yellow Bus, which continues until we enter Mongolia, and start reading Özcan Yurdalan's trip to Mongolia, what he experienced and felt during this trip. Here, the tempo slows down a bit, but it becomes a book that takes you there and creates images in your eyes on every page. You find yourself in a shamanic ritual, watching the stars in the steppe, wandering through the pages of history. Especially since deserts are geographies that are my weakness, I enjoyed reading the desert descriptions.
Özcan Yurdalan's experiences from many different corners of the world and combining these experiences with Mongolia adds a different flavor to the book. There are references not only to different parts of the world, but also to past Mongolia trips, in which we learn that nothing or many things have changed in 9 years in some places.
Özcan Yurdalan's extensive knowledge of Mongolian culture and history; Mongolian artists and their posts about their art are very informative and impressive, if I write a book one day, I would like it to be rich like this (ops, there is no such plan at the moment).
Of course, I also have criticisms about the humble book;
1- The disconnection from the Yellow Bus to Mongolia trip bothered me, I felt like I was reading 2 separate books.
2- I wish the photo at the end of the book was in the relevant part of the article. Also, if the excursion route was visually included, it would be inedible.
Do not go to Mongolia, make sure to include this book in your library to read a good book.